Linda Biggs Article

by Adele Evans

When walking along the “fairy trail” in the woods behind artist Linda Biggs’ Parkton home, her two daughters sometimes find a note penned by a friendly fairy. Other times, they may come across a ribbon or a crystal, a keepsake left again by a playful pixie. Whatever the treasure they discover, any journey into the woods becomes magical and unpredictable.
That's what fairies do best, make the world a magical experience. What? Don’t think fairies are real? Linda is a believer. Around the secluded log cabin where she, her husband and daughters live, Linda has created a world where things are a little brighter, a little more magical and a little happier all because of these diminutive, supernatural beings.
That's because the cabin is decorated in, well, fairy. Biggs’ original paintings of fairies adorn the walls. Porcelain fairies, trolls and other small friends peek out from cases or from around corners. Hanging crystals reflect the light from the windows and serene colors of green, purple, blue and aqua add to the mystical mood.
Outside on the porch, chimes ring in the breeze, a small fountain trickles sleepily and the fairy trail wanders off into the trees. You can follow it if you want and experience the same joy, wonder and awe that thousands of others feel each time they purchase, remember or look at one of the fairy paintings that Biggs has developed into a cottage industry (excuse the pun) and a respected art form.
Besides peddling her fairy art at local and national crafts shows, Biggs’ work is recognized internationally and is being included in an illustrated fairy anthology, which is serious stuff even in the world of pixies.

Lifelong dream
An avid Thumbelina fan from childhood, Biggs says she’s always loved fairies (and even seen one or two out of the corner of her eye). While attending Towson High School, art class was “one of the few classes I ever paid attention to,” she said.
After graduation and 18 years in the printing/marketing business, she decided to throw caution to the wind, take a stroll down that beckoning fairy trail and pursue her own dream: Painting. And not just landscapes, still lifes or op art but paintings of fairies.
Like most fledgling artists, she started out small. A few fairies here and there and then her portfolio began to expand. Since she liked to purchase arts and crafts and had already been collecting fairy figurines, Biggs knew there was a market for almost anything fairy. So to make a living in her fairy world, Biggs knew she had to gain exposure at prominent art shows.
That meant Sugarloaf Arts & Crafts Shows. The Sugarloaf art association, based in Rockville, holds two local art shows a year that are considered the epitome of arts and crafts gatherings, featuring the best of the best.You don’t just sign up for Sugarloaf. Judges have to deem you good enough to display your art. Crossing her fingers, Linda printed her fairy art onto note cards and sent them in to be judged. Three days after her submission, Linda got the good news. She was in.
“Now I had to close my eyes and jump in!” she said, laughing about her wish coming true. “You need a booth, supplies and your work. I did it all and I sold out in the first show.”

Populate the world
After that, Linda mapped out specific goals. If she could paint a fairy that was up to her standards every three to six weeks, she’d have enough prints and lithographs for each of the two local Sugarloaf shows.
But her success has taken her outside the Baltimore area. She has her art on display in Arizona, New Mexico, California and lots of other places except her home town.
“Baltimore is not a fairy friendly town,” bemoaned Biggs. Still, she does her best to populate the world with the beloved creatures from her pixie palace in Parkton.
Linda’s fairies are delicate and depicted in minute detail. Their moods vary: happy, mischievous, sad, sensual, pensive, serene and every other emotion in the rainbow. They all reflect emotions Linda has felt. Her recent painting, “Me, Too,” is a modern fairy in jeans and a T-shirt, with a tear dropping from her eye. It has become a popular favorite because it tells people that even fairies cry, we all have bad days, she said.
All of her watercolors spring to life, overflowing with greenery, color and light. Linda has painted only two male fairies. She doesn’t really know why but admits that the female fairy figure is prettier and easier to draw.

Bright and dashing
Her following has grown like Jack’s beanstalk and the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow wasn’t far behind. After only five years, with some originals selling upwards of $5,000 a piece, Linda’s Fairie Forest Watercolors business hosts a web site and sells watercolor paintings of fairies either in original form or reproduced on cards and lithographs. She recently began designing sterling silver fantasy crowns and has sold 30 so far for weddings, proms and fun events.
What’s more, her art has been highlighted in a recent anthology published in England, “The Art of Faery.” The compilation was blessed by Brian Froud, who is considered a master of fairy art (he and Alan Lee co-wrote the acclaimed book, “Faeries”). Froud praised her illustrations and wrote the book’s foreword.
“Linda’s work is quite unique,” said David Riche, who edited and compiled the book. “She captures the essence of the more mature fairy with a deep passion of emotion.
“Her use of color to capture the light and magic of a scene is exceptional. Her style is changing now as she exudes more confidence and discovers the power of her own abilities to draw people into her images, ultimately to brighten their day.
“Her use of colors is bright and dashing always casting a smile with images of deep meaning. She depicts a tenderness with the sensuality of her subject. I find I am constantly drawn into her images to unravel their meanings. In truth her work fascinates me and she has a unique style which is so distinctly different, yet holds and charms.”

Fantasy discipline
Linda seems to take it all in stride but can’t help laughing when she thinks about it all.
“It was not planned. I had no idea it would come to this,” she said.
Though business is booming, it’s not the financial success that pleases Linda.
With her art, Linda has created a world for herself — a respite from carpools, housework, teacher meetings and traffic jams that wait just down the road.
She paints most of the day, until the kids come home from school. Sometimes, she can’t put her brush down even after they’re home. In any case, the time flies. Solitude isn’t loneliness. It’s time to be creative and visit a happier place.
But even fantasy worlds require discipline. Linda gets up every day, makes sure her daughters get off to school and then sits down to her easel.
“If I’m in a foul mood, I put it in the picture. I visualize my mood. I get it out and put it into the painting, good or bad experiences,” Linda said.

It’s in the eyes
She’s her toughest critic. Every picture must have meaning. Maybe they were sweet, simple creatures in the beginning but they’ve become much more. So much is in the eyes, that if the eyes are wrong, the painting is thrown away.
“I must make my work real,” said Biggs. “I dig in deeper. I’m exhausted afterwards. I started out with simple, sweet pictures based on a mood or a look. Now it goes deeper. Many buyers say it’s healing, light and refreshing.”
“Native Spirit” is Linda’s personal favorite painting. That fairy has an Indian motif, a representation of her grandmother who was a Cherokee. And though her work is usually laced with butterflies, frogs, dragonflies and other friendly creatures, Linda plans to paint a new fairy — riding a cicada.

Healing qualities
Linda’s fans include psychotherapists, suburbanites, abuse survivors, fantasy lovers, Goths, cancer patients, prison inmates, you name it. They all consider her work very real and very healing.
“She’s a great artist. I like the fairies, the detail and color — all of it,” says Russell Peterson of Shrewsbury, Pa., who has collected 40 pieces. “It relaxes me. Her paintings are more realistic than some of the ones you see animated.”
Amy, a young girl fighting cancer in London, has written Linda letters on how much she loves her art. Linda painted one (and named her) in Amy’s honor.
“All Amy wanted was long hair [after her chemo treatments], so I painted a fairy with her likeness and gave her long hair,” Linda said.
Break the ice
Biggs’ paintings are even considered therapeutic.
“It resonates with the soul,” said Becky Falkenburg, a clinical social worker and mental health therapist in Oak Hill, Virginia. Becky came across Linda’s art at a show and has been a fan ever since. “It’s evocative art.”
Becky’s patients include bereaved family members, cancer patients and those suffering from various forms of mental illness. Becky uses the fantasy pictures to break the ice and get conversations going. Depending upon the patient, fairies and the beautiful backgrounds can represent hope, strength, sadness and change to these people, she said.
“It’s amazing how people respond to art,” Becky said. “Art has something that allows people to voice things that may be too painful or personal to do in words. It helps people articulate.”
For example, butterflies can represent change and wings can symbolize freedom. Linda’s rainbow colors can say, ‘there aren’t rainbows without rain’ and tears may be necessary for transformation, Becky added.

Deeper meanings
Female prisoners love Linda’s art, too, and buy it. Linda doesn’t know quite how but they got wind of the pictures and now write her requests. A group of 20 women inmates wrote her to commission a “warrior fairy” with bow, arrows and all.
“It takes them away,” said Biggs. "It’s so dark there. This is light and happy. They study them, even counting the petals on the flowers.”
Others in “dark places” seek the art for peace. At least two clients have come to Linda, grieving the death of a family member. Both commissioned Linda to paint the special person in fairy form to immortalize them and their spirits.
Even without the deeper meanings, the art helps us get away, perhaps back to our childhoods, therapists add.
“Art helps people get out of their heads and into their hearts,” agreed
Timonium/Towson-based psychotherapist Laurie Levinson. “It’s incredible. They can’t put it into words but art helps them examine the issues.”
But Linda Biggs doesn't need her art to get away. Whenever the need arises, she just grabs her daughters and they head for the fairy trail in the woods around their house. And for them, it's not getting away, but going back to a place that is magical because it’s populated with fairies, real and imagined.

Jacksonville-based freelance writer Adele Evans refuses to say if she has ever seen a fairy.

Reprinted approval from Mild-Mannered Communications, L.L.C.


	Linda Biggs creates the beloved creatures from her pixie palace in Parkton. by Adele Evans When walking along the “fairy trail” in the woods behind artist Linda Biggs’ Parkton home, her two daughters sometimes find a note penned by a friendly fairy. Other times, they may come across a ribbon or a crystal, a keepsake left again by a playful pixie. Whatever the treasure they discover, any journey into the woods becomes magical and unpredictable. That's what fairies do best, make the world a magical experience. What? Don’t think fairies are real? Linda is a believer. Around the secluded log cabin where she, her husband and daughters live, Linda has created a world where things are a little brighter, a little more magical and a little happier all because of these diminutive, supernatural beings. That's because the cabin is decorated in, well, fairy. Biggs’ original paintings of fairies adorn the walls. Porcelain fairies, trolls and other small friends peek out from cases or from around corners. Hanging crystals reflect the light from the windows and serene colors of green, purple, blue and aqua add to the mystical mood. Outside on the porch, chimes ring in the breeze, a small fountain trickles sleepily and the fairy trail wanders off into the trees. You can follow it if you want and experience the same joy, wonder and awe that thousands of others feel each time they purchase, remember or look at one of the fairy paintings that Biggs has developed into a cottage industry (excuse the pun) and a respected art form. Besides peddling her fairy art at local and national crafts shows, Biggs’ work is recognized internationally and is being included in an illustrated fairy anthology, which is serious stuff even in the world of pixies. Lifelong dream An avid Thumbelina fan from childhood, Biggs says she’s always loved fairies (and even seen one or two out of the corner of her eye). While attending Towson High School, art class was “one of the few classes I ever paid attention to,” she said. After graduation and 18 years in the printing/marketing business, she decided to throw caution to the wind, take a stroll down that beckoning fairy trail and pursue her own dream: Painting. And not just landscapes, still lifes or op art but paintings of fairies. Like most fledgling artists, she started out small. A few fairies here and there and then her portfolio began to expand. Since she liked to purchase arts and crafts and had already been collecting fairy figurines, Biggs knew there was a market for almost anything fairy. So to make a living in her fairy world, Biggs knew she had to gain exposure at prominent art shows. That meant Sugarloaf Arts & Crafts Shows. The Sugarloaf art association, based in Rockville, holds two local art shows a year that are considered the epitome of arts and crafts gatherings, featuring the best of the best.You don’t just sign up for Sugarloaf. Judges have to deem you good enough to display your art. Crossing her fingers, Linda printed her fairy art onto note cards and sent them in to be judged. Three days after her submission, Linda got the good news. She was in. “Now I had to close my eyes and jump in!” she said, laughing about her wish coming true. “You need a booth, supplies and your work. I did it all and I sold out in the first show.” Populate the world After that, Linda mapped out specific goals. If she could paint a fairy that was up to her standards every three to six weeks, she’d have enough prints and lithographs for each of the two local Sugarloaf shows. But her success has taken her outside the Baltimore area. She has her art on display in Arizona, New Mexico, California and lots of other places except her home town. “Baltimore is not a fairy friendly town,” bemoaned Biggs. Still, she does her best to populate the world with the beloved creatures from her pixie palace in Parkton. Linda’s fairies are delicate and depicted in minute detail. Their moods vary: happy, mischievous, sad, sensual, pensive, serene and every other emotion in the rainbow. They all reflect emotions Linda has felt. Her recent painting, “Me, Too,” is a modern fairy in jeans and a T-shirt, with a tear dropping from her eye. It has become a popular favorite because it tells people that even fairies cry, we all have bad days, she said. All of her watercolors spring to life, overflowing with greenery, color and light. Linda has painted only two male fairies. She doesn’t really know why but admits that the female fairy figure is prettier and easier to draw. Bright and dashing Her following has grown like Jack’s beanstalk and the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow wasn’t far behind. After only five years, with some originals selling upwards of $5,000 a piece, Linda’s Fairie Forest Watercolors business hosts a web site and sells watercolor paintings of fairies either in original form or reproduced on cards and lithographs. She recently began designing sterling silver fantasy crowns and has sold 30 so far for weddings, proms and fun events. What’s more, her art has been highlighted in a recent anthology published in England, “The Art of Faery.” The compilation was blessed by Brian Froud, who is considered a master of fairy art (he and Alan Lee co-wrote the acclaimed book, “Faeries”). Froud praised her illustrations and wrote the book’s foreword. “Linda’s work is quite unique,” said David Riche, who edited and compiled the book. “She captures the essence of the more mature fairy with a deep passion of emotion. “Her use of color to capture the light and magic of a scene is exceptional. Her style is changing now as she exudes more confidence and discovers the power of her own abilities to draw people into her images, ultimately to brighten their day. “Her use of colors is bright and dashing always casting a smile with images of deep meaning. She depicts a tenderness with the sensuality of her subject. I find I am constantly drawn into her images to unravel their meanings. In truth her work fascinates me and she has a unique style which is so distinctly different, yet holds and charms.” Fantasy discipline Linda seems to take it all in stride but can’t help laughing when she thinks about it all. “It was not planned. I had no idea it would come to this,” she said. Though business is booming, it’s not the financial success that pleases Linda. With her art, Linda has created a world for herself — a respite from carpools, housework, teacher meetings and traffic jams that wait just down the road. She paints most of the day, until the kids come home from school. Sometimes, she can’t put her brush down even after they’re home. In any case, the time flies. Solitude isn’t loneliness. It’s time to be creative and visit a happier place. But even fantasy worlds require discipline. Linda gets up every day, makes sure her daughters get off to school and then sits down to her easel. “If I’m in a foul mood, I put it in the picture. I visualize my mood. I get it out and put it into the painting, good or bad experiences,” Linda said. It’s in the eyes She’s her toughest critic. Every picture must have meaning. Maybe they were sweet, simple creatures in the beginning but they’ve become much more. So much is in the eyes, that if the eyes are wrong, the painting is thrown away. “I must make my work real,” said Biggs. “I dig in deeper. I’m exhausted afterwards. I started out with simple, sweet pictures based on a mood or a look. Now it goes deeper. Many buyers say it’s healing, light and refreshing.” “Native Spirit” is Linda’s personal favorite painting. That fairy has an Indian motif, a representation of her grandmother who was a Cherokee. And though her work is usually laced with butterflies, frogs, dragonflies and other friendly creatures, Linda plans to paint a new fairy — riding a cicada. Healing qualities Linda’s fans include psychotherapists, suburbanites, abuse survivors, fantasy lovers, Goths, cancer patients, prison inmates, you name it. They all consider her work very real and very healing. “She’s a great artist. I like the fairies, the detail and color — all of it,” says Russell Peterson of Shrewsbury, Pa., who has collected 40 pieces. “It relaxes me. Her paintings are more realistic than some of the ones you see animated.” Amy, a young girl fighting cancer in London, has written Linda letters on how much she loves her art. Linda painted one (and named her) in Amy’s honor. “All Amy wanted was long hair [after her chemo treatments], so I painted a fairy with her likeness and gave her long hair,” Linda said. Break the ice Biggs’ paintings are even considered therapeutic. “It resonates with the soul,” said Becky Falkenburg, a clinical social worker and mental health therapist in Oak Hill, Virginia. Becky came across Linda’s art at a show and has been a fan ever since. “It’s evocative art.” Becky’s patients include bereaved family members, cancer patients and those suffering from various forms of mental illness. Becky uses the fantasy pictures to break the ice and get conversations going. Depending upon the patient, fairies and the beautiful backgrounds can represent hope, strength, sadness and change to these people, she said. “It’s amazing how people respond to art,” Becky said. “Art has something that allows people to voice things that may be too painful or personal to do in words. It helps people articulate.” For example, butterflies can represent change and wings can symbolize freedom. Linda’s rainbow colors can say, ‘there aren’t rainbows without rain’ and tears may be necessary for transformation, Becky added. Deeper meanings Female prisoners love Linda’s art, too, and buy it. Linda doesn’t know quite how but they got wind of the pictures and now write her requests. A group of 20 women inmates wrote her to commission a “warrior fairy” with bow, arrows and all. “It takes them away,” said Biggs. "It’s so dark there. This is light and happy. They study them, even counting the petals on the flowers.” Others in “dark places” seek the art for peace. At least two clients have come to Linda, grieving the death of a family member. Both commissioned Linda to paint the special person in fairy form to immortalize them and their spirits. Even without the deeper meanings, the art helps us get away, perhaps back to our childhoods, therapists add. “Art helps people get out of their heads and into their hearts,” agreed Timonium/Towson-based psychotherapist Laurie Levinson. “It’s incredible. They can’t put it into words but art helps them examine the issues.” But Linda Biggs doesn't need her art to get away. Whenever the need arises, she just grabs her daughters and they head for the fairy trail in the woods around their house. And for them, it's not getting away, but going back to a place that is magical because it’s populated with fairies, real and imagined. Jacksonville-based freelance writer Adele Evans refuses to say if she has ever seen a fairy. Reprinted approval from Mild-Mannered Communications, L.L.C.